It was hard not to feel pity for those weird little goldfish gremlins. They were cute, in a pathetic and naturally vulnerable way. The same way that most goldfish were naturally, but it was only increased by the sight of them floundering and flailing, trying to help each other get free of the weight of the platform they once carried.

A task that was made difficult by the fact that said platform had killed some of their members and crushed another lot, leaving only a pair of them free of its weight to move around. So, even without the weight of their fishy king atop it, it was still too much for their gangly arms to lift.

Seth let out another sigh, exchanging a particular look with his companion as Astra as she stepped beside him. She dismissed her helmet, the silver face dissolving into liquid and peeling back, revealing her true face with the same stoic expression as the mask, as the silver liquid retreated into the rest of her armour.

She glanced coldly at the struggling goldfish, before speaking in a low and even tone.

"Are you wanting to kill them too?"

"No. There's no need for that. They are harmless at best. Just gather a few of the meatier corpses, we're gonna need some food. Use the guard for transport."

She nodded softly, crouching down and tearing off the kings seaweed cloak before stepping away and began to pick at the corpses. She found the fattest or meatiest looking ones, placing them in the cloak to use it like a tarp sack. Since he was no longer pretending that the puppet was obeying his orders because of some 'special privilege', it had no issue with following her orders.

Especially because it had to be under his direct control. Seth chose to ignore the strange irony of both giving and taking orders with the same person.

While Astra and the other part of his mind set upon that task, Seth strode towards the floundering fish, causing the two free mermaids to shy away in terror. They gargled and gurgled, pleading with him in their strange language that he still didn't understand a single word of, as he looked at them coldly.

He still had trouble with reading the emotion in their glassy eyes, but with the way they grovelled at his feet and trembled, not daring to look at him, it was obvious to tell that it was nothing but fear. Fear that this horrific monster would slaughter them just like he had done with the guards.

They knew that if the guards couldn't defeat him, that they had no chance. To them, Seth was nothing more than an omen of death and destruction.

So, when Seth crouched down and lowered his hand, they trembled even more and let out more gargling as they begged for their meagre lives. They planted their heads against the ground, not daring to look.

Seth shook his head slightly, hooking his fingers under the platform that they had been struggling to shift even a millimetre, and lifted it from the ground as if it weighed less than the air.

He lifted it off of the pinned goldfish, letting them scramble free of its confines and join their compatriots in their grovelling, before he tossed the platform like discarded cardboard and simply turned on his heels and walked away.

Joining Astra in step, they continued on their arduous and futile trek throughout the endless grassy meadow. Even if they knew that there was nothing out there, it was better than staying here and smelling like a fish market.

Unsurprisingly, fish guts didn't smell any better just because they had arms and legs. In fact, for some reason it made them smell worse. When they were alive it was bearable, but with all the blood and guts soaking into the ground... well they were glad to leave it behind and wander into the endless unknown.

However... They had barely walked for even a minute before a particular sound reached their ears.

PLAP PLAP PLAP PLAP

Stopping in their tracks, the pair turned and were greeted with five little goldfish people hurrying behind them, their skinny legs working over time to keep up with the long strides of the humans, especially since a few of them were limping from crushed legs.

As soon as they caught up with the pair, they immediately dropped to their knees and bowed before them, muttering in their incomprehensible language. However it was a gesture that Seth recognised all too well, because he had become sick of seeing it so much by now.

They were grovelling in worship.

He could hear Astra laughing softly, as she spoke in a restrained tone.

"I see that even fish can understand the glory of our Lord. You gain worshippers wherever you go."

"Quite you."

His irritation only garnered more stifled laughter from the straight faced woman, and caused Seth to sigh again. He was just about to start a very awkward game of charades to tell the fish people that he didn't want such things, nor did they have to follow him, when one of them held up a peculiar item.

It was a bracer, forged from gold and topped with a dazzling pearl that glimmered with all the colours of the rainbow. It was utterly gorgeous, and definitely the type of jewellery that definitely signified wealth and power in any culture and, if he truly wanted, could be sold for quite the pretty penny.

However, it wasn't the gold of the bracer that Seth was interested in, nor the glimmering pearl placed atop it. Well, maybe the pearl was a little interesting, but it wasn't his main focus. Instead, his eyes were immediately drawn to the runes carved into the gold of the bracer, runes that were glowing with the same dazzling, rainbow colour as the pearl.

"Well... That is an interesting gift indeed."

***

"Are you sure that is a wise idea?"

"What? Letting them tag along? They're harmless, and seem eager to prove themselves. So why not?"

"No, I understand that. I mean are you sure that is a wise idea."

Astra touched Seth's chin, turning his attention away from the bracer he had been deeply examining and made him look at his scaly tag-alongs, the little goldfish, as they were voraciously devouring the corpse of their once king. Tearing apart his flesh with their bare hands and stuffing it into their mouths as if the meat was going to go bad from the few seconds of air exposure.

It was a display that was both disturbing to witness, and unfortunately brought the rancid smell back to their resting place after they had spent the last 2 hours walking to escape it.

Astra and Seth were currently sitting next to each other, with a crackling fire illuminating the pairs faces with a soft orange light. The fire had been pretty simple to build. A little wood from these endless trees, and a spark from his companion and they were good to go.

It still hadn't turned dark in this endless meadow, and it was doubtful that it would happen any time soon, but the fire was needed to cook their food. As delicious as sushi might be, god only knows what pathogens or bacteria were thriving within these creatures, what diseases they brought with them from wherever they came from.

Cooking it was the smart option. A fact that didn't seem to bother the goldfish themselves, as they continued to dine on the fish who had been king. The strange part was, that wasn't even one of the bodies that Astra had packed to bring with them. They had brought it themselves, for a reason they only now understood.

She was right however. Seth had witnessed the effects of cannibalism first hand, and heard the reasons for why it turned ordinary people into horrific monsters. But he wasn't even sure if this was classed as cannibalism.

Sure, they were both fish people, but they were different kinds of fish. So would that make it okay? Was it technically racism to think that they were different because of that?

Seth shook his head, getting rid of those useless thoughts as he focused back on the bracer he was holding in his hands. Well, the puppet was holding it in its hands like a good servant while he examined it, but its hands were also his hands so... it still counts, right? Right.

"I'm sure it's fine. They don't seem to mind, and I don't even know if they are technically the same species anyways. But just in case, we will keep their future meals non-fishy if we can help it."

"I guess that works. Why do you want to keep them around anyways, and what is that thing they gave you? You're obsessed with it."

"Well, I want to keep them around so we can take them back with us. Neither of us took the communication gift, whether or not that was a bad idea I'll let you decide, so if we want to talk to them we have two choices. Learn their language, which seems very unlikely, or have someone with the communication gift translate for us.

And once that happens, we can ask them all sorts of questions, starting with where they came from and why they were attacking us.

As for this little gift of theirs, It's very simple. I believe that this is our ticket home."